Real Quick

Sorry for my small hiatus the last 2 days. I've been crazy busy trying to get ready for my trip. Nothing like procrastinating till the last minute! I would put up an outfit post from either yesterday of today, but unless thrown together, mismatched leftovers while you are doing all your other laundry is your thing...then it is probably nothing to write home about. So I will spare you! haha

But I will treat you to another outfit shot by Miss Amber Sponsoring from Amber Lynn Photography! So this outfit...probably not my fav, if Im being honest with you. It actually is the last outfit I threw together before my photo shoot, if I'm being really honest with you. And now that I think of it...I think I've only worn that shirt once and probably won't again, if I'm being too honest with you. I love the skirt. I love the shoes. I love the necklace. I kinda love the shirt (I bought it while prego last summer. It looks better used while prego I think), but all together? Mehhhhhhhhhh.

Top: Charlotte Russe($17)| Skirt: Forever 21($7.80)| Shoes: Jessica Simpson @ Ross($24)| Necklace/Braclet: Forever 21(both under $10)| Watch: BP @ Nordstrom($18)

That's the fun thing about fashion though. You get to try out anything you want, and if you don't like it, well at least you know for next time. Oh well. You can't win 'em all I guess. I think its time for me to get a full length mirror. That's right! I said it!!!! I don't own one and most of my outfit selections are done blindly, not ever being really sure what the bottom half of my body looks like. Come to think of it...that might be some talent actually. I'm gonna give myself a high five.

and that concludes this super weird, kind of awkward outfit post. I'll be better tomorrow. Promise:)

New Giveaway!

Hey everyone! Hope you are having a fabulous Sunday! So since I'm going to be going out of town on Friday and blogging is going to be minimal while I am gone, I figured I would treat my awesome readers to a giveaway before I leave!

So I have recently fallen in love with cat eye sunglasses. They are not for everyone's taste I think, but I actually really like the way they frame my face and I'm now a hardcore fan. So I am giving away a pair of these same cat eye sunglasses from (the always adorable) Francesa's Collection to 1 lucky Dime Diary reader!

Jeans: Sexy Modest Boutique($39)| Top: LOFT($11.99)| Belt: Ross($6.99)| Shoes: Jessica Simpson @ Ross($24.99)

They are seriously so so so cute. You will LOVE them. I'm honestly obsessed. So here are the details!

To ENTER:

1. You MUST be a public follower of The Dime Diary (public following will be the only ones considered. Im sorry, private following will not be considered :( So just make sure you are publicly following in order to be entered!)

2. Leave a comment on this post letting me know you follow and how many entries you have and if you want, what fun in the sun things you would do in your pair of sunglasses!

FOR ONE ADDITIONAL ENTRY FOR EACH:

1. Like The Dime Diary on Facebook

2. Like ON Bloglovin'

3. Post the giveaway link to your Facebook

**3. I will give 2 extra entries to any follower who pins this giveaway to Pinterest!(make sure you leave this info in your comment)


And that's it! This giveaway will end next Saturday at midnight, and I will announce the randomly chosen winner on Sunday! I'm excited for everyone and I can't wait for one of you to win the glasses, you will look fabulous!

Guest Blogger: Amber from Barefoot Blonde

Hey ladies! Boy oh boy do I have a treat for you! Today I have asked Amber from Barefoot Blonde to visit us! She is absolutely adorable, and lately I have been loving showcasing other bloggers that have a different style from me! I love seeing outfit inspiration! It helps me step out of my comfort zone and try something new! Hop over to her blog and check out all the other amazing outfits she puts together! (she does a mean hair tutorial too!)I hope you enjoy Amber today!

Hi friends!

My name is Amber Fillerup and I write Barefoot Blonde. 

So happy Morgan asked me to do a guest post! 

I am currently in Annecy, France and it is blazin hot, so I have been wearing shorts and dresses everyday! I love anything form flattering so I of course had to buy this Motel Zoe dress from Asos! Since I also just adore leather, spikes, and studs, and especially love them mixing with something somewhat feminine, I paired the dress with a spiked gold and black necklace from Mango, a neon skull bracelet, and some cheetah sandals from Old Navy!

To see more and to get links to these items, you can visit my blog: here!

Thanks Morgan!

xo

Introducing Amber Lynn Photography

Ok girls! Remember how I told you that I was going to formally introduce the you to the girl I chose to do my family pictures? Well here she is, and let me tell you, she is an absolute DOLL. On Sunday I had the pleasure of shooting a couple outfits with her, and she is truly the most easy to talk to girl ever.

Little do many of you know, that behind the scenes of every outfit shoot my husband does with me, I am awkwardly standing around after every shot, asking him what I should do next. HAHAHA like he would know? (jk I'm not giving him enough credit, he is a natural little photog) but anyway, I am NOT a model. I often times feel super uncomfortable taking my pictures, but with Amber she is just so sociable and makes you feel really comfortable! She even was so kind as to position me! Something I seriously struggle with.

I honestly must say that she is probably one of the BEST photographers I have ever worked with. She has such an eye for great shots, and she is extremely patient, making sure she captures her vision for you, but most importantly what you want from her. She takes her time, she is detail oriented, and I am thrilled to have her take our pictures in September. Not to mention she is affordable! Complete package right there!

Here are some of the pictures she snapped from my photo shoot

Shirt: Old Navy($19)| Skirt: Forever 21($10.80)| Belt: Forever 21($5.80)| Heels: Charlotte Russe($20)

So if you are looking for an amazing person to take your engagement, wedding, or family pictures, I 100%, whole heartedly suggest her. You won't regret it. Lucky for everyone here I have all her information to get in contact with her, and see her work! Call her ASAP to set up an amazing photo shoot with her!

801. 742. 1172
amberlynnnphotography@gmail.com
www.wix.com/amberlynnn/photography
www.amberlynn-photography.com (under construction)

Now without further a due, this is Amber!

Isn't she gorgeous? She is even more stunning in person, trust me. Here she is answering a couple questions about herself, so we can all get to know her a little better!

What is your favorite thing about being a photographer? (Why Photography?)
Honestly the more and more I do shoots my favorite thing is to get to know my clients. I have felt such connection with them and hearing them say that they had such a fun experience and were so comfortable is just a joy for me! I have been on the other side on the camera and is crazy difficult! I know what it feels like and I want to make the time I have with my clients as fun and comfortable as possible. I often play music in my back pocket which I have found it helps lighten the mood, only down fall is that I start to sing and sometimes don't even realize it :)

How would you define your style?
This is a good question. I think styles are constantly changing and we grow and learn from others our style grows and matures. I am always being influenced by others works and trying new things, but I would say soft and romantic. I'm a natural light photographer that has a personal photojournalistic feel.

How do you prepare your clients for their photoshoot?
Get dressed up! Have your makeup and hair done, go out and buy a new outfit! I know for me when I do these things I feel million percent more confident in myself. Like I said it is incredibly difficult to have a camera in your face no matter who is taking your photos, so having that extra boost of feeling amazing is a wonderful thing. Most important I think though is to have fun! Hair and makeup are great things but it they don't make the pictures if we can't see the real you. Let yourself loose and be yourself. I want my clients to know it's okay to laugh and be silly.

Who inspires you/Where do you draw inspiration from?
So many things inspire me. I can look at any photographer and find something that I could learn and be inspired by. Even though we all do the same thing initially, we are all different and have so many different styles and ideas. Along with photographers, dancing inspires me, the movement and poses are amazing. Also, color is a big one for me. I just love anything that is soft pastel colors, where that be art or patterns. There is just something special about light natural colors. So amazing.

Pinterest…friend or foe?
Friend for sure! I am a big party thrower thanks to Pinterest. I'm seriously obsessed :)

Do you pick locations, or have clients do that? What about props?
I love shooting at new locations, so I love it when my clients have idea where they want to shoot. It is more personal and special when they have something in mind. Also, the same thing goes for props! I love props. I don't supply props, but love when my clients bring them along.

When do you have the most fun doing your job?
When do I not?! Sure, it's busy at times but I can't even believe this is my job sometimes. It is all so much fun! I get to be apart of my clients lives and document their love no matter what it is. From a new mommy beaming over unborn child, to newlyweds excited to start their lives together...it all thrills me.

What have you found is the hardest part of being in front of the camera? How does that help you be a better photographer?
Being able to be completely comfortable and keep moving into different poses is extremely difficult, let alone purely awkward. ha I know what it feels like being on the 'other' side so I do my best to make my clients feel comfortable and just have fun with it. I have learned that most don't know how to pose which is utterly understandable, photo shoots are not an everyday thing for most. I have done a little modeling just to know what it feels like to be a client and to learn more about posing so I can help my clients pose and not have the same pose for the entire session. It really helps and makes things less uncomfortable when everything flows and you can switch into another pose and feel like you know what your doing :)

When you’re not behind the camera, what would you be found doing?
Watching two beautiful girls. Editing pictures and on pinterest planning my next party :)

What is your “can’t live without this” beauty product?
Chapstick.

If you had $1,000 dollars to spend in one store, where would you go?
Anthropologie or West elm for sure!

Favorite movie and musician!? Only pick one!
My Best Friend's Wedding. Always will be my favorite. As for Musician…that's a tough one :/

Biggest overall accomplishment/ Most exciting experience in life so far?
It was a dream of mine to start my own photography business and I didn't think I could. It was a big accomplishment for me and has only grown and I'm so grateful for that!

K, seriously, how can you not love this girl??? I'm already obsessed. Amber will be now be under the Sponsor section from now on, so anytime you want to view her work and get more information on her feel free to click her button! Thank you Amber for being with us today!!!

Pioneer Day

We are lucky enough to live in a state that pretty much celebrates 2 4th of July's. Every year on the 24th, the wonderful people of Utah get to celebrate Pioneer Day, to commemorate the pioneers settling in the valley. And because of this fine occasion, hot dogs and fireworks are standard. Who doesn't love that?? Any reason to have fireworks is a good reason for me.

Scott had to work for the first part of the day, but after he got out we headed down to Spanish Fork with Ember and Clark, and had some dinner at Los Padillos. It was a serious struggle to find that sucker. Map on iPhone was less than helpful and I was more than frazzled because I was driving and there were big groups of people in downtown celebrating Fiesta Days. Turns out that the restaurant was actually called Los 2 Padillos...that darn extra 2 caused all that headache.

Isn't picture of Ava eating a lime amazing?

Dinner was awesome! Sometimes those hole in the wall places are the best. Never underestimate the hole in the wall. After we ate we headed over to Mapleton to meet up with our friends Andrew and Jessica to watch some fireworks. Jessica picked out THE perfect spot, and the fireworks were literally right over your head. It was amazing to just lay down in the grass and see the fireworks that close. Props to Jessica for picking that sweet spot!

This baby was a TAD crazy during fireworks. Scott gave her 2 small straw-fulls of Mountain Dew (I had no part of that) and she sucked on limes and oranges all dinner...she was off the wall I tell ya. The crash was incredible though. I don't think I have ever seen her go from 100% to 0% so fast haha

Ava was completely captivated by those fireworks, she was frozen, like not even blinking frozen. Sure beats the 4th of July when she just drank her bottle and slept through all the fireworks.

Hope everyone who celebrated Pioneer Day had a fun time, and those who don't celebrate it, come visit Utah on July 24th next year! You won't regret it:)

Sneak Peek...

Hey y'all! I'm back today to give you a sneak peek of something I have been working on. I received an abundance of suggestions in email and on Facebook as to photographers you would suggest for my family pictures, and I have chosen one! Her name is Amber from Amber Lynn Photography. Aside from the fact that she is absolutely gorg, she is also an amazing talented photographer.

I LOVE her work and am beyond thrilled to work with her. Tomorrow I will give a formal introduction to her and her beautiful work, but in the mean time I will share these with you:)

Shirt: Old Navy($19-old)| Skirt: Bohme($32.50)|Belt: Forever 21($8.80)|Scarf: Gift from my mom

Hair tutorial! How to get gorgeous soft curls

Happy Saturday everyone!!! I'm over at How Does She today teaching everyone how to do soft beachy curls. Click HERE to see the post! But I'm also going to show you how to do it right here on my page!

Soft curls and wavy hair is so hot right now, but not everyone has that effortlessly beautiful beach bum hair naturally, some of us have to fake it. But I have good news for you! Soft curls are easier to achieve than you ever thought possible. If you need some guidance on how to create those perfect lightly curled locks without them looking too…umm…curly I suppose, than you have come to the right place! Everyone has their own way of creating those luscious locks, but I’m going to show you how I get mine!

(Sorry in advance if the pictures are not super amazing, I did them on my iMac so I could easily snap pictures of the process all along the way!)

So lets get started!

Here is what you will need!
-Hair clip
-1-1 ½ inch curling iron or curling wand
-Hairspray of your choice

1. First of all you are going to want to start with straight hair, a little trick I have learned is that if you use little to no conditioner before curling your hair, it can make the curl hold a lot better because conditioner can weigh hair down. If you skip conditioner make sure you use some sort of hair oil like Argan oil on the mid-shaft of your hair and down to protect your tips!

2. Separate your hair into 2 sections right above your ears. Clip up the top section on top of your head with a ponytail or a hair clip.

3. Choose your curling tool! I use a 1 and ½ inch curling wand from Sally’s Beauty Supply called Plugged In. It is only $30! I found that wands give the best wave over a curling iron. You can most certainly use a curling iron just make sure to not use the clamp! Just pretend like its not even there:)

4.
Next take 1-2inch sections from your hair and wrap them around a 1-1 ½ inch curling iron or curling wand laying your wand behind the piece of hair being curled and wrapping the hair towards your face (or backwards) starting at the top of the wand (closest to the handle) and spiraling it to the bottom. Make sure to leave the ends out – I usually hold about an inch or 2 out away from the base.

5. Now, here is the magic trick to creating this look. Once you have released the hair from the wand, grab that hair and pull it. Yup, just pull it straight down and hold it while it cools off. What this is going to do it allow for your curl to cool down in a much more relaxed position and loosen it making it look more like a soft wave than a spiral curl.

6. Once it cools run your fingers through the curl to loosen it even more and give it a messier appearance.

7. Continue to wrap your hair all the way around your head taking 1-2 inch sections each time. Once the bottom section is all curled, pull down another section about 2 inches above your ears. Continue to curl the hair the same as the last section, remembering to pull the hair and run your fingers through it each time.

8.Once done with the above ear section, pull down that last crown section. How you curl this part is going to depend a lot on whether or not you have layers and how long they are. If you have long top layers or no layers at all feel free to start your curls a little higher just as you have been doing. If you have shorter layers on top like mine that fall slightly below my chin, I opt for curling the hair only halfway down the shaft, or sometimes not at all, and just blending it into the already curled hair. I do this because I don’t want the hair to look too “done” and sometimes if you don’t curl the top hair it can make your layers look longer.

9. After you are done with all your curling, pulling, and finger raking, feel free to set it with whatever hairspray you like! I currently use Garnier Fructis’ in Full Control.

10. If you like you can backcomb the crown to give you more volume, and part your hair as you normally would, and that’s it!

Isn’t the pulling the curl secret awesome? I swear it makes all the difference between looking like a low maintenance beach goddess, and looking like your ready for a cheerleading competition. Best of all it loosens up even more after sleeping on it. These curls with 2nd day hair is even better! Try it out this week! I’m sure you will love the results:)

So the post on How Does She isn't linked back to my page today, so if you like this tutorial and you want to share with your friends, please pin it from my page so it can link back to me:) Thanks everybody!

BBQ on the day off

Today Scott had the day off. Thursdays are the best. Every Thursday we try to do something fun together, this week? cooking up some hot dogs and inviting Scott's sister Ember and her boyfriend over to eat. I ate 4 hot dogs I think, which is 4 too many, and enjoyed the last can of Coke Zero vanilla in my fridge (Im trying to skip the soda until the wedding). It was bittersweet.

Our picnic was followed by a friendly game of hearts, in which I wound up topping the charts with an impressive 120 points when the point was to have as little points as possible. Apparently I suck at hearts? I cut myself some slack though since I have never played. Not that bad for a first timer right?

Anyway, today was a perfect day to wear my favorite boyfriend jeans and my vans. It wasn't sweltering hot out today so wearing tenni's was actually pretty comfortable!

Top: Old Navy($9.50)|Cardigan: Forever 21($14.80)|Jeans: Old Navy($19)|Shoes: Vans @ Journeys($39)

That's my "your butt stinks baby" face. In which I refuse to hold her around the diaper area for fear that it might get on me. A change was done soon after.
After all our BBQ fun was over we got to take Avie to the doctor where daddy got to witness her getting her shots for the first time. Heart breaking. Scott had to hold down her arms while they stuck her with needles on both legs at the same time! I have never seen that baby turn so red.

Isn't that face the saddest???She started crying so hard that her cry wasn't even a cry, it was one big gasp for air that lasted entirely too long, and I was a little nervous she might pass out if she didn't take a breath. 3 minutes and some distraction from the blinds cords in the doctors office later, and she was smiley as ever. Until we put her back in the carseat. Man oh man, the day after shots is always the worst.
Follow me on Instagram to see more adorable, less sad pictures of Ava @morgansallen